Employers are urged to welcome nursing

Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Joe Southernjoe.southern@amarillo.com

If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

That saying might apply to the workplace as much as it does in the home. World-renowned breast-feeding expert Dr. Thomas Hale, a professor and author at the Texas Tech Medical Center, said it is important for employers to do a better job accommodating nursing mothers.

"Industry needs to understand it's to their benefit to have mothers breast-feed," he said.

He said longer maternity leaves are needed to help mothers give their babies a better start in life. He said allowing mothers time and a place to breast-feed their babies or to pump breast milk helps assure that infants get the nutrition they need.

He said numerous studies have shown that breast-fed babies are healthier and do not get sick as often. That translates to fewer sick days taken by mothers to stay home with ill babies.

Hale said babies who are breast-fed have 75 percent fewer cases of inner ear infections, 66 percent fewer cases of upper respiratory illness and have higher IQs by an average eight to 12 points.

He said there are benefits to the mothers as well. Hale cited studies that show women who breast-feed reduce their risk of breast cancer by just under 1 percent per month of breast-feeding. He also said that women who breast-feed lose their pregnancy weight faster. He said there is growing evidence that women who breast-feed might reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Women who nurse their babies save on average $2,000 a year in formula costs and extra doctors visits, Hale said.